Truth about Feminism!

About six months ago, I was attending a big event that took place in Cairo, the even overall was so inspiring it had different talks from different speakers about different aspects of life particularly in Egypt. 


One of these talks was about feminism and female rights in the Egyptian society. Before I get into details about the talk, and my own viewpoint regarding its discussed theories and concepts, let me tell you the exact definition of feminism. 

Feminism is a collection of movements aimed at defining, establishing, and defending equal political, economic, and social rights and equal opportunities for women.

So lets take a deeper look into this definition: 

The Act

Feminism is a collection of movements: so its not one act, its not something that  can be done within one organization or one campaign, its an ongoing process for change.  

The Action

Feminism defines: in other words it gives a meaning to the cause or to the female equality process
Feminism establish: it creates the right atmosphere and capabilities for women so they can take their rights 
Feminism defends: provide the needed protection and security for women  

The Activity 

Equal (To Men) 

1. Political Rights: The right to compete in the political world 
2. Economical Rights: have equal economical and financial statues 
3. Social Rights: have the same privilege in the social sphere 
4. Opportunities: have the same life and career chances 

So the conclusion out of this definition would be that feminism is not about talking nor giving speeches, its about the actual action in the real world. This bring us back to the talk I have heard about feminism during the event I attended. She was a young female in her mid 30's, her studies and work is all about giving female their rights and prestige in the Egyptian society, while she also holds a Phd in feminism theory and practice.

Her talk was mainly about how we "Women in the A & B Class" are not having full rights , and we are treated  as women, and we are looked upon as people who don't have the same intellectualism level as men. She kept on citing poetry about how we at Egypt are being called names, being harassed physically and mentally and we are not looked upon as active citizens in the society. She claims that we don't have the same work and life opportunities men have, and how women need to be Empowered in the Egyptian Society.   

With all due respect to the speaker, I totally disagree with her, let me tell you why: 

Demographics: 

If we took a look at the population structure, we would find out the both males and females are almost equal in numbers. 

0-14 years: 32.7% (male 13,725,282/female 13,112,157) 
15-64 years: 62.8% (male 26,187,921/female 25,353,947) 
65 years and over: 4.5% (male 1,669,313/female 2,031,016) (2011 est.)

According to the ministry of labor "The participation of women in Egypt's workforce has risen from 15.4 percent in 2001 to 23 percent in 2006," 

Lets take a look at the following tables that indicates women Education & Economic Empowerment, from AUC research center & Canadian International Development Agency, in 2010 

This first graph shows, the ratio between males and females in working occupations, and as it shows women are advancing in numbers more than men.

Whats interesting about the above graph, is the fact the women are advancing in the fields of Agriculture, hunting and education more than men. This indicates two things, 1. Women have more will and power , 2. They do jobs that men are inclined to do, which shows that women may have been looked at as the main source of money in rural areas and so called lower classes. 

The above graph explain itself, take a look and tell me what do you think about the numbers!?

The above table is the latest stats taken in the end of 2010, which shows the differences that are taken places between generations. Women are more advanced in the professional and technical fields, while they still have a high level of competitiveness in the sales and marketing area. Women are still advancing in the field of farmers, and hunters while ironically men are more advanced in handicrafts. If we looked at the unskilled workers field, indicates that women are far more skilled than men! 

Away from statistics what I see with my own eyes, and I am sure a lot of people will agree, is that all mangers and department heads in the A-B class are mainly women. So who do you think need more rights women or men?! 

Who Needs the Rights?

Away from that if we will be talking about women rights and feminism than we shouldn't be discussing that in the A-B classes. Lets start looking at lower classes, women who work daily and than there husbands beat them up for the money. Young girls who get married at young ages to way older men. Also looking at the indicator that women have far more participation in physical work like hunting, farming and fishing, while in God's words women are not made for that kind of work, yet they are still skilled and powerful enough to do so. 

Will give an example I see everyday, the maid that works at our house, gets beaten everyday from her husband so he can take her money, and when you ask her why are you still living with him, why are you keeping up with what he is doing to you? She smiles innocently and says, "He is the man, this is what he should do, without him I would be nothing" 

That is something we should be working on! This women is suffering from what I like to call "Intellectual Rape" she is stuck in the bubble of traditions! This case applies to millions and millions of Egyptian women in lower classes. These are the women we should, defend, define and establish their rights and opportunity not the women in the higher classes! 

The Myth of Empowerment!

Women should be empowered they need rights right and rights! and then? Lets look at the definition of empowerment 

Empowerment refers to increasing the spiritual, political, social, racial, educational, gender or economic strength of individuals and communities. It often involves the empowered developing confidence in their own capacities.

Yes I believe that women should be empowered by all means, the should enhance their capabilities;ties, adapt new skills and widen their knowledge, they should shine forever! But lets make it clear, women are born to do certain things that men can never do, while men are born to do other things, its not that what they do we cant do, its just that this is simply not our role in life and this is not what we are born to do!  And as a very special person I know said, "I believe that men are women are not equal, but they have equal rights"  I believe in something that is far more important than women empowerment, I believe in "Human Empowerment" I believe that both men and women should be equal in having rights to excel and flourish, they both deserve good quality education, they both deserve to be entrepreneurs they both deserve to have their role in society. They both deserve defending their right to live! 

Taxi Driver or an Entrepreneur!?

A couple of months ago I took a Cab from work like I normly do, yet there was something that is so not normal about it. Books and magazines where everywhere , 2 netbooks where attached to the back of the chairs, a small basket that has game boys & PSPs was set on the front seat. 

I started looking at books, I found a collection of old and new English and Arabic books, some where for Naguib Mahfouz, Abbas EL Akkad, Dan Brown, Paulo Coelho and more. 1 Minute after I have entered the taxi, the driver start telling me you can use what ever you want for free, but if you need internet tell me, because it requires a fees. 

I started talking with the driver, he was a young man in his late 20's , well dressed, pleasant looks, and a not so bad English accent. He started asking me about my experience with other Taxi drivers and what are the things that I hate about riding taxis, he started to scribble things while I was talking on a piece of paper attached to the driving wheel. 

After 10 minutes of riding the taxi, figured that his name is Eslam, and this is his privately owned car, Eslam told me about his dream of having his own business, yet this business was still in the same career of taxi driving he was pursuing. Eslam wanted to gather all his taxi driver friends in one company, dedicated to driving people on-call. He wanted to create a website and FB page promoting the business, his idea was to create a profile for all drivers, with their pictures and complete info about them and about what they do, he wanted to enhance the experience for customers and he wanted to demolish the bad image people have about taxi drivers, he wanted to create a safe place for people to go to. Eslam also mentioned having cabs that are drove by women, so it would be easier and much more comfortable for ladies. 

After this pleasant 30 minutes ride, I started thinking should this taxi driver be considered as an entrepreneur!? He certainly has the spirit and the qualities that qualifies him to be so , and according to WikiPedia an entrepreneur is  an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative! 

I believe that this young man has all what it takes to be a very successful entrepreneur!

Whtats very amusing about Eslam is that, he is not resenting what he is doing, he is not unhappy about his job, he loves it and he is trying to work so hard to make it better for him and for others around him. He worked with the capabilities he had, he didnt wait for an opportunity to come out of no where, he focused and he will start launching his project very soon!

What I regret on not doing is forgetting to take his phone number, a man with an initiative  like this is worth giving attention, and support!

The Key to Getting More Followers on Twitter

If you are new to twitter, you are probably wondering how people get many followers! At first you are struggling to break the 100, after breaking the 100 you are struggling with the 300, than the 400, 600 and so on! The thing is how can you break those numbers, well let me give you small tips and tricks on how to do so.

1. Choose the right Avatar

if you choose a crazy and outgoing and rebellious avatar that will sure help in making your chances doubled, stay away from sissy and regular photos. and make sure you LOOSE THE EGG!

2. Your Bio reflects on you!
if you wrote simple and straight to the points words that describe you well, this will raise your opportunity.
check this link to check the 20 best bios 
3. Tweet , Tweet & Tweet!
its simple, if you have nothing to say, just dont tweet! the more you tweet the more you will get followers! If you thought what people will think about your tweets than you will never tweet! just tweet whatever comes to your mind and you will find someone to engage with. Get engaged with people who share different thoughts and start debating, get in touch with tweeps who share same interest and help people out! A big percentage of people on twitter are seeking help from fellow tweeps, some ask about locations, others ask about food and others ask about products. 
4. Hashtags, they are important
whether you create your own #Hashtags or you join existing popular hashtags this will certainly help in making your chances better

Above all make sure you do not trust websites that tells you they can get you more followers, because they are all scam! And once you break the 600 it all comes easy!

P.S: The More followers you get the more you will get followed, people look at 3 main things before following someone, the avatar, the bio and the number of followers they have!